Night Owl Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Night Owl Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Linde PLC by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 1,474 shares, bringing its total to 49,195 shares valued at approximately $22.9 million.
• Linde's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $4.09, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, marking a 2.3% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with a yield of 1.3%, scheduled for payment on September 18th to investors of record on September 4th.

Night Owl Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,195 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,474 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up approximately 2.9% of Night Owl Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Night Owl Capital Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $22,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Linde by 5.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,600,297 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,470,284,000 after purchasing an additional 453,108 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Linde by 18.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,542,991 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,511,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182,157 shares in the last quarter. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,128,233,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at about $2,097,793,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 1.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,859,539 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,797,156,000 after acquiring an additional 40,931 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $519.63.

Linde Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $2.51 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $470.94. 601,545 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,037,862. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $472.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $462.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.95.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.85 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.300-16.500 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total transaction of $23,815,274.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.